The Manning family: Brendan, Bronwen, Cathlin, Ian & Hamish
Gamefields, once the telegraphic address of the Kenya Game Department, is the name I gave to a company registered in Gibralter by the Manning family's partner, Khalid Altajir, with a branch in Zambia, having a simple mission: to do something about the complete disenfranchisement of rural communities and the alarming loss of their supporting biodiversity, by entering into partnerships with traditional authorities and government in the investment and management of both customary and protected areas, particularly through the development of tourism. I started the process at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg in 2002 at the request of a number of conservation NGOs by mounting an exhibition called “The Conservation Investment Fair’ giving the opportunity for all and sundry to showcase their projects and to find investment partners. This lead to my decision to return to Zambia where I had long been active both in the Department of Wildlife and National Parks and in the safari hunting and tourism business, to assist my old department – now a statutory body called the Zambia Wildlife Authority, in further developing public private partnerships (PPPs) in National Parks – having assisted in the establishment of just such a partnership in the Kasanka National Park (formerly in my charge) in 1988. At the request of Judy Carr, the eldest daughter of the late Norman Carr, a former member of the Game Department and well known for his conservation work in Zambia – and a former employer of mine, I and the former M.P. for Mkushi, Rolf Shenton registered the Norman Carr Foundation. As President we recruited the founding President of Zambia, Kenneth Kaunda, whose son Panji had been one of the trustees – along with myself and Norman Carr, of the African Wildlife Trust twenty years before. One of its first jobs was to assist the current Director General of ZAWA, Dr Lewis Saiwana, in the development of PPP national policy for National Parks.
I then searched for a suitable chiefdom in which to develop a land investment model, one that would not alienate the land from its customary owners, but which would allow for a fruitful partnership to be developed between suitable investors and the villagers. I soon settled on the country of Senior Chief Luembe in the Nyimba district, a magnificent part of old Africa encompassing parts of the rift valleys of the Luangwa, Lukushahsi and Luano.
Picture by Brendan Manning
In short time we had registered a non-profit trust (Luembe Conservancy Trust) with trustees drawn from the Nyimba District Council, the Luembe Community Resource Board, the chief and myself (Gamefields) as trustees and co-directors, and Gamefields. This trust was based on a simple structure, initially called the Chipuna – named for the traditional three-legged African stool. The Chipuna seemed the way forward, providing as it does the necessary partners for development of local community, government and investor. I held wide-ranging discussions with all and sundry, but crucial to the development of the Landsafe idea was Rolf Shenton, a remarkably dedicated man whose efforts in conservation and development over nearly two decades in Zambia has no peer.
Chipuna, which we now call Landsafe – in deference to Zambian tribal sensitivities, is being attempted by Gamefields in Luembe, and in other areas by other trusts. The basis of Landsafe is of course a truly participatory landuse plan, one based on the desires and knowledge of villagers, admixed with the land and natural resources capability. The result of this process is the identification of a number of landuse and business development options, which then require investment partnerships. Critically, the use of land is then carried out under usufruct i.e. the lease of customary land, no ownership loss of community land taking place.
As Luembe makes up a greater part of the West Petauke Game Management Area (GMA), an area, which comprises some 1 million acres, home to about 2,000 of the poorest Zambians who live far from services and opportunities for advancement, it was clearly important that we pay particular attention to it. This area had been given out on a tender to Mbeza Safaris Limited for the conducting of hunting safaris on a ten year lease until 2012. Owned by the Mehta brother, it was clear that they should be invited to join the Luembe Trust, for without their participation, they and ZAWA could easily block other development. Having declined to join us, we made and offer of purchase, which was accepted, and we kicked off with a few hunts in the 2005 season. This journal is a chronicle of what has since ensued…
